Meet the souls who bring the soul to North Okanagan

"Monashee Trails believes that trails are not just a path through nature. Trails are a path to a brighter future for all of us." 

Founded only a few years ago, Schneider and her team are powering trail development across the region.

 "Trails are something that brings communities together. It provides economic benefits and they bring tourism to communities. 

Hiking our trails is the chance for anyone to just be themselves, and be in nature, to calm their nervous system," says Schneider.

"Trails are a path to a brighter future for all of us, for future generations, for everyone in our community and bring people together," she goes on.

"And that's why we're here as a society, and that's why we're working hard to maintain trails, to bring new trails to the area, and to advocate for trails in the Lumby and surrounding area."

Take a hike, head to the Lumby Monashee trails. 

"There's so much soul in the North Okanagan. Lots of people come here and don't know the area, so we help them learn the trails and just have a lot of fun. 

With Bush Babes and Bro's Trail Running, we teach people how to run safely in the trails and we introduce people to this part of the Okanagan through our events." 

With races this summer, lace up those running shoes and hit the trails, your invite is here.

"We take care of the land, but more, we take care of the helpers (sacred beings being the helpers). This is how we take care of all the land." 

"The place that we're in now is Silver Star and in Syilx language it's known as akst̓x̌ałq (ak-la-sta-hal-k), meaning a place for gathering huckleberries. This is our ceremony place. 

There's so much medicine around, my auntie just saw some strawberries and my mom just saw huckleberries over there, and there's plenty of juniper." 

For those seeking more understanding of the land, and to gain further syilx perspective, consider an Indigenous gardens tour.

Hiking for many is its own form of medicine. SilverStar Mountain Resort welcomes hikers and bikers all summer: the Gondola is running as is their Comet Six Pack Chair.

"The North Okanagan has an incredibly diverse music scene. A lot of people aren't super-engaged with it." 

And perhaps we should add a "yet" to his line. "A lot of people aren't super engaged with it…yet."  

This summer McLeod and his local losers crew serve up a huge array of talent on stage every Saturday up at Silver Star via their Summer music series happening now through September long weekend.  

"I'm an artist myself. I'm a painter and an illustrator, and one of the things I find is always super-important in this industry is finding people to support your work.

Being able to step into a role supporting other type of creative endeavors is amazing. I get to see directly the impacts my work has on supporting people creating and making art."

Next to the Summer music series, you might want to point your compass to be back the third week of September for McLeod and team's Sundog Fest.

"(It's) the largest flash mob happening weekly in the North Okanagan," says Janzen. 

"We're very lucky to have Polson Park right in the heart of Vernon, but it's also the community. 

We all come out and we have a nice, safe place on the grass for the kids to play, and we hang out and eat dinner and check out all these amazing things that local artists are making. 

The Polson Night Market is the best thing happening in Vernon on a Friday night." 

Janzen and her team serve up so many creative stories with their retail therapy opportunities. 

"Typically, we have 50 to 70 vendors on any given night and its truly amazing to see how creative our vendors are, every week there is something new they are offering." 

Book your North Okanagan road trip today and see for yourself with a night at the Polson Market, just one of the many ways that you can connect to the soul of the North Okanagan.

When You Go 

Know you won't go hungry, nor will you go short on things to experience, culturally or in their great outdoors. The souls who bring the soul have you more than covered. 

Getting there  
Driving, the North Okanagan is: 
4h from Vancouver
5h from Spokane 
6h (approx) via road trip out of Calgary

More info  start your journey by learning more about the region via their website. You'll find tons of accommodation options from camping to high end luxury. 

Share you adventures  We want to know what you find, be sure to include #northokanagan and #zenseekers in your posts so you might be featured.